Posing: FRAMING one character's pose with another's

 This is a good technique to use with the others I have been tailing about.

 You can have one character's pose create a frame around the other's.

 The frame is created by the space between the 2 characters.

 This makes the 2 poses easier to read and it looks swell too.

You can also use background elements as framing devices.

The master of this (and other posing techniques) is Harvey Kurtzman.

John K Stuff: Harvey Kurtzman - Opposing Poses, LIFE

Posing: Action and Reaction

 The most obvious simplest way to compose 2 characters talking to each other is

have the one who is talking lean towards the one who is listening
the listening character leans back at less of an angle than the speaker leans forward

Aim the eyes at each other too for good communication between the characters

Of course you don't always want to use that formula. It wouldn't be natural.

Here the character talking is leaning back and thinking out loud while the other character leans in the other direction-but she connects to him with her eyes.

 In continuity, you should vary the degrees of action and reactions and have the characters take turns.

Variety of poses and expressions is more natural than repeating the same poses or having each character in the same pose in a scene.

Oh and thanks to Ger Apeldoorn, Mark Christianson, Mark Kausler and Yowp for making these beautifully drawn comics available to the world!

Posing: Static VS Dynamic

Here is a scene with characters in dynamic poses. They look alive.

Here are some characters in static poses.

1) evenly spaced apart

2) Standing straight up and down

This is obviously a publicity shot - and those are usually kind of bland and generic for some reason.

Here is another static evenly spaced group of characters from a comic.

Compare to a more lively couple of poses.

Fred and Barney's poses have strong lines of action and they have different degrees of action - they aren't in the same poses. Barnet's pose is stronger-he is leaning back on a diagonal line of action. Fred is on an arc that leans to the right at his head. the space between them is creating a V shape that leans to the right.

Again to drive this home...here is a static line up of characters who have no poses. They are all vertical and evenly spaced.

Here is Wilma in a pose. She isn't standing straight up and down. Her pose tells us her attitude and what's happening in the story.
Here is Ranger Smith in a static pose next to a cook in a subtly dynamic pose. Dynamic poses don't have to be extreme in every case. The pose should be appropriate to the scene, character and story.

Here is a nice frame that shows Yogi in a very subtle pose, his body very slightly leaning back and his head cocked subtly away from the man. The other character has a stronger more definite pose leaning forward; they aren't mirror images of each other.

ACTION AND REACTION:

This is a good technique for scenes when 2 characters are talking to each other. Usually, when one character is doing the talking, his pose is more dynamic that the other's.

But also, the character doing the listening is REACTING to the one talking. Boo Boo's pose is leaning back in a less extreme arc than Yogi is leaning forward. Yogi is the cause, Boo Boo is the effect. Yogi's forward pose is pushing Boo Boo backwards.

Dynamic poses are much more entertaining than static poses and when used in context, they tell the story better. The last thing you want in animation is to have characters just stand there reading dialogue.

Next: more action and reaction.

Best Of Opposing Poses

One character's pose is dominant. The other characters' poses react to it.
The characters' poses create interesting negative spaces between them.



One Character Opposed to a Group
Margaret is dominant character. Other kids are together a separate element. Within that element, Tommy has dominant pose with strongest line of action-directed at Margaret.
BACKGROUNDS FRAME THE POSES
Even the backgrounds and their negative shapes can frame the actions of the characters.

Every element in a good picture is balanced against the main action and pose.Action and reaction
between characters is very important and appealing to look at.
FITTING ALL PICTURE ELEMENTS IN BALANCE AGAINST EACH OTHER

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2008/08/kurtzman-and-composition.html